Li Daoyuan (; 466 or 472 in Zhuo County,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

– 527) was a Chinese geographer, writer, and politician during the

Northern Wei Dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

. He is known as the author of the ''

Commentary on the Water Classic The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancie ...

'' (''Shuijingzhu''), a monumental work on China's geography in ancient times. Li Daoyuan used his position as an official with business in different places to carry field investigations. He is known to have visited the area belonging to the present-day

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, Shanxi, and

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

provinces.China Culture.org.
Li Daoyuan
".China Culture.org.

". Another source for his knowledge was the study of ancient geographical books he had access to, like the ''

Classic of Mountains and Seas The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sin ...

'' (''Shanhaijing'') completed by the time of the early

Western Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

) and the ''

Water Classic The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient ...

'' (''Shuijing''), written by Sang Qin during the

Three Kingdoms Period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...

and later commentated on by Jin dynasty writer

Guo Pu Guo Pu (; AD 276–324), courtesy name Jingchun () was a Chinese historian, poet, and writer during the Eastern Jin period, and is best known as one of China's foremost commentators on ancient texts. Guo was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collector ...

. Li vastly expanded the ''Water Classic'', doing his own research and fieldwork. The original ''

'' has not survived but covered 127 rivers and streams and contained about 10,000 characters; Li Daoyuan's ''Commentary on the Waterways Classic'' (

Shui Jing Zhu The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient ...

), discusses 1252 watercourses and contains about 300,000 characters in total. The book maps and describes the rivers and streams along with the history, geography and culture of the surrounding region.

References

5th-century births 527 deaths Medieval Chinese geographers Northern Wei politicians Politicians from Baoding Scientists from Hebei Year of birth unknown Writers from Baoding 6th-century geographers {{China-bio-stub